A Suitable Boy

A Suitable Boy is an adaptation of Vikram Seth's eponymous novel brought to life through an ensemble cast, some heartwarming performances and a fairytale directional effort by Mira Nair and Shimit Amin. Set in the 1950's post partition India, A Suitable Boy is a heady concoction of a number of social and personal affairs, most of which remain relevant even today.

The story's mainstay is the subject of the parental control over a girl's future and her arranged marriage, taken to a ridiculous level by the single minded determination of an indulgent mother. In the case of our heroine Lata, her choice of the suitable boy during the modern day "swayamvar" is deemed legitimate so long as she will toe the line drawn by her guardian, and although all is well that ends well, the question about the uncertainty of the future remains. However, the central theme apart, A Suitable Boy also has a meaningful coverage of several other social issues like politics, power, competition, interfaith relationships, the rich and poor divide, rebellious youth and its potential effects, deep family bonding, feudal issues and communal harmony. The directors' ability to intertwine these issues with the central theme keeps the narrative breezy, interesting, diverse even when it plunges from being lighthearted to parlous.

The casting is indeed a coup and possibly the jewel in the crown of this rather larger than life, glossy series with magnificent production values. Tanya Maniktala is charming and effervescent in the central role of Lata, and Mahira Kakkar defines the role of her mother to the precision of excellence in the domain of intolerable indulgence. Our hearts go out to the earnest performances of Ishaan Khattar, Danesh Razvi, Shubham Saraf, Shahana Goswami, Vivaan Shah, Vijay Varma and young Yusuf Akhtar (as the adorable Bhaskar Tandon, the prodigious child). The standout execution of their respective role comes from the ever dependable Tabu as the ageing courtesan in a tumultuous phase of life, Ram Kapoor and Aamir Bashir who redefine friendship and communal harmony and finally, Namit Das, the chosen one, exuding confidence, strength of character, devotion, selflessness and an amiable personality that borders on OCD. Don't miss A Suitable Boy, there's a lot to discover in it, and you may even associate with some of the proceedings in this period drama.

When I started to read Vikram Seth's monster novel, 'A Suitable Boy', I found it hard going: had Seth really written 1400 pages about the attempts of a young woman to find a husband? But the story inside this framing ultimately expanded into an astonishingly broad, subtle, superbly written and cunningly plotted epic. This television adaptation can't quite bring the Seth's full vision to life, and feels much more like I first feared the book would be: an essentially simple story about finding the right partner. We do still see a lot of India; but at times it feels that it's merely providing background colour, while the characters are simplified and presented straight up as the people you gradually come to know over the book's many chapters. It's always hard judging a new version of something you already love fairly, but I couldn't engage with this series. Read the original instead: it's a literary masterpiece.

My Rating : 6/10

Great selection of actors, music and settings however it's too bland - too gimmicky and cringe most of the time.

The book is one of the greatest ever - this doesn't do justice to its scale and opulence.

OK for a one-time viewing.

There is a lot riding on A Suitable Boy. Really enjoyed episode 1 aired last night. Colourful, dialogue simple, beautiful on the eye, against a political background of India-Pakistan partition. I love Art and Slow pace series. Thanks to Vikram Seth and Mira Nair can't wait to watch more episodes

Having read the novel a few months ago, I was quite excited about this series.I watched the first episode as soon as it was released.

However, from the very first episode I felt everything was quite rushed. How could they possibly do justice to a 1300+ pages long novel in 6 episodes? While the show starred some talented actors such as Tabu and Ishaan Khatter, the actors just couldn't turn the show around. It lacked a lot of character development and a large chunk of the history which was mentioned in the book was simply removed. At the end of the day, I felt this was simply a matchmaking drama. It could have been so much more!